We had a sensational time as sponsors of a weekend of movies at the Alamo Theater in Bucksport, Maine, on Nov 1-3, 2024. This theater offers *open captioned* movies every Sunday afternoon, as well as a hearing loop at all showings. That weekend’s feature film was “Lost on a Mountain in Maine”, about a true event in 1939 on and near Mount Katahdin.
Special thanks to the Alamo’s employees, Bryce (projectionist) and Vanessa (concessions), for promoting hearing accessible films and allowing us to engage with their theater patrons. They wear several other job hats there as well, and are always helpful and friendly.
We even got our organization’s name in lights! Margaret, Pat, and Tom manned our table at various times from Friday to Sunday. Many movie goers stopped to learn what HLAA Downeast Chapter can do for Mainers with hearing loss. Quite a few signed up for our email list, too.
Never be shy about asking questions when you get an opportunity to learn. A few folks asked us how to use the T-coil hearing loop, and what open captioning means. To use the hearing loop, you switch your hearing aid or cochlear implant to a setting (often named “T”) when you enter the room where the movie will be shown. If you don’t have this setting, talk to your audiologist. To see the open captions, simply watch (versus closed captions which require you to enable them). Both kinds of captions show words spoken by the actors and narrator, as well as giving a text description such as “eerie music” or “howling wind”.
One person mentioned she always uses the T-coil, particularly at this theater. There was a rare issue with the hearing loop the prior weekend, and a technician was on hand to fix it. Be sure to let an employee know if you encounter similar trouble anywhere. Another person asked how to buy hearing aids; while the checklist for that was not at hand (glitches get everyone), it is available on the recently redesigned national HLAA website.
Fyi, the movie `Lost on a Mountain in Maine` is based on a book of same name. Bookstacks book shop in Bucksport sells tickets to the Alamo Theater too.
Watch for more movie related events in the future, and check out our list of hearing-accessible New England theaters.